


The Son of Honerva

by Kkoko88



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Altean Lance (Voltron), Comfort, Honerva - Freeform, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, Rarepair, Torture, prosthetic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-04-04 01:37:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kkoko88/pseuds/Kkoko88
Summary: Before Zarkon waged war, before he married Honerva, the young Altean was in love with someone else, a certain Altean royal. After a life-changing discovery, she fled. When she returned, she and Alfor drifted apart, but the deed was done.((First time posting on ao3 and in the Voltron fandom, any comments are appreciated :D. Super super loosely based on some great fanart I saw that depicts an Altean Lance who's the son of Haggar, and I absolutely loved it. The artist is @barafield on tumblr, which is based on a tumblr fanfic called "The Son of Haggar" (hence my own title) by @bijellyfishy. Both are great and I highly recommend looking them up. Also, the Alfor/Honerva is pretty brief, but it's pretty significant to story events.))





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Son of Haggar](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/364401) by @bijellyfishy on tumblr. 
  * Inspired by [The Son of Haggar (fanart)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/364404) by @barafield on tumblr. 



Honerva never expected to find herself in a relationship with the young prince. The two had been playmates at court in childhood, as Honerva’s father was a physician for the royal family. Alfor was a prince, however, and it had ended there. They drifted apart for a time as their duties drew them to different focuses, Honerva to alchemical science and Alfor to legislation and government.

So when Alfor visited Honerva’s lab, she was surprised. They were both nineteen now, and Alfor had filled out quite a bit, looking much more a prince than in childhood and his early teens, when he was a skinny, gangly teen, all legs. He wasn’t the only one who had grown up. Honerva, with her lilac hair and lilting voice, had become a striking young woman.

Alfor seemed to have lost his train of thought, staring at her. “Did you need assistance, my prince? My father taught me much in the way of healing,” Honerva asked, studying Alfor for any injuries or sickness. She didn’t see anything, but not all maladies would be discernible to the naked eye.

The question seemed to snap Alfor out of his stupor. “Uh, I was just… I needed your father’s most recent report on the proposed upgrades to Altean medical technology! My father wants to make certain he’s allocating enough resources to make progress.”

Ah, that was it. Alfor was just doing as he was told. Honerva, deep down, was rather disappointed; she and Alfor hadn’t seen each other in many decafeebs now. She shook the feeling away. It wasn’t like she had time for romance (or anything that came with it).

Many Altean women married young and had kids quickly, though they still held important positions in the work force. It meant that both parents brought their children to work with them. Honerva was a prime example of that. Her father practically raised her in the lab. It was an efficient way to train children in their future fields.  
Honerva’s research was far too important to be disrupted by all of it, she had decided. She didn’t need a child running around, ruining her data and contaminating samples. Not to mention the crying and screaming.

It was Honerva’s turn to break out of her reverie. “The report, Honerva?” Alfor inquired.

“Of course, it is right here, my prince,” she replied. The young women took a file from her father’s desk and passed it to Alfor.

“Thank you… Also, you of all people don’t have to call me that.”

“Hm?”

“Just call me Alfor. That’s what my friends call me.” With that, Alfor made for the door, blushing slightly (though Honerva didn’t see that). He made a silent vow to return more often to see his childhood friend.

For Honerva’s part, some treacherous part of her, buried and hidden away, wanted this to go further, and it soon did. Alfor’s visits came more and more often. They had dinner under the stars many nights, their laughter ringing out in the garden. One evening, Alfor took Honerva out to a visiting circus. Another night, Honerva shared her studies with the prince. She was pleasantly surprised that he understood so much of what she said and even countered with theories of his own. Alfor was gifted in alchemy.

Things progressed further after that, but Honerva found herself increasingly pulled between passion and research. She was certain Alfor felt it too; he had responsibilities as a prince and the future king of Altea.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Honerva needed to return her full attention to her work, which was impossible now. She started looking for an opportunity to break things off with Alfor. Though pleasurable to be with him, it would be better to bid farewell now rather than later. Rip the bandage off quickly.

It was never the right time. It didn’t help that she’d been feeling ill lately. At her desk, Honerva thought about her symptoms, switching between taking notes and peering into a microscope. “Fatigue, slight cramping, nausea, headaches, and… cravings…” she listed off. “Oh no.” She leaned back from her chair. She knew why she’d been feeling so odd. She pushed herself from the chair so forcefully it crashed to the ground. Without a look back, she fled from the lab.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
“Please, Father, we must send more search parties out!” Alfor pleaded. He looked haggard, dark bags beneath his eyes. He’d also lost weight, and his hair was limp. Honerva’s absence was clearly weighing on him.

King Alistair, a middle-aged man with long silver hair, merely shook his head. This had gone on long enough. He pulled Alfor into him tightly, a father’s embrace. “I’m sorry, my son. There’s no trace of her. Perhaps it’s a sign.”

“No! She’s not—she’s still out there! She has to be!” Alfor cried out, but it was hollow. It had been feebs now, and there was no sign of the alchemist. No contact, no word of any kind.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
A decafeeb and a half after her initial disappearance, Honerva returned. Alfor intended to meet her in the medical bay. Honerva’s father, Horavo, was in the midst of examining her, flashing a small light into her eyes. He was rather small like his daughter, though he did not share his red hair or bespectacled blue eyes with her.  
“I don’t see any signs of concussion, Honerva. What’s the last thing you remember?” Horace asked. Alfor hovered by the doorway, just out of sight. What did the physician mean?

Honerva was slow to answer, “I remember Mother coming home with that silly contraption that colored her hair green and pink. Then, she could not get it to turn off, and the entire house was pink and green for three quintants.”

“That was two and a half decafeebs ago, my dear.” Horace frowned as he leaned toward Honerva and took her hand. “My daughter…” Alfor couldn’t watch anymore; it wasn’t right to spy on such an intimate moment.

In fact, perhaps it would be better to let Honerva to recover in peace, without any pressure from the prince. If she’d truly lost her memories, then she didn’t remember their romance, and Alfor could never allow himself to force her into anything. Alfor sighed deeply and strode down the hall, away from his first love.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
From then on, Alfor and Honerva rarely interacted. Even when Alfor tried to seek the alchemist out, she had either “just stepped out” or was “unexpectedly conducting field research.” If he didn’t know any better, he’d suspect she was avoiding him.

Alfor would have pursued the matter further, but he was diverted by the untimely death of his father. He was king of Altea now, and he had an obligation to his people. He soon met with the leaders of other planets on a diplomatic mission to secure peace, and the team that formed kept him busy. His thoughts rarely drifted to Honerva now.

A new love entered his life, a warm, silver-haired Altean named Kiara. She was an Altean noble, and just as fiery as him. Alfor couldn’t wait to introduce her to Zarkon and the others.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
The two happily married soon after. It was an exuberant affair, lasting nine quintants, spread across most of the system’s planets. The partying finally ended, and it was back to business as usual. Everything was going well.

When the comet impacted on Daibazaal, Alfor had to put his best alchemist to work on studying the rift left behind. Both fortunate and unfortunate, Honerva seemed more willing to talk to him now, but it was like speaking with a stranger. It mattered little at this point, but there was still a twinge of frustration in Alfor’s heart. At any rate, Honerva didn’t seem to notice. She was excited and fascinated by the rift, so much so that she remained on Daibazaal rather than go back to Altea. Alfor just wanted her to be happy, so he left her to her own devices (though he did check in on the research from time to time).  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Zarkon was especially pleased when Honerva stayed behind. The two of them got along quite well, though it quickly progressed past that. He loved to listen to her and help with her research. Like Alfor and Kiara, they married, though the ceremony was smaller, more private. Zarkon couldn’t bring himself to pull Honerva from her research any longer than necessary.

All in all, things were going well. Alfor built the Lions of Voltron, bringing him and his fellow leaders even closer together. The universe was at peace. In the following feebs, Allura was born, his first child (as far as he knew). She was the light of his life, especially in the dark times that followed. Kiara soon took ill, and nothing the physicians tried had any effect. She passed away, leaving the castle a shade of its former self. It was painful, but there was work to be done and a princess to raise.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Zarkon’s betrayal shook the Paladins and their allies deeply. Alfor did his best to lead them, but he was no Black Paladin. Something had to be done, but they needed information first.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Blaytz couldn’t shake the odd feeling he was getting. Blue was trying to tell him something. He didn’t know what, but he was busy. He was aboard Zarkon’s ship, sneaking around as sentries passed by him. It was still hard to accept the events of the last few feebs. That’s why the remaining Paladins had to figure out what Zarkon’s plan was, starting with any information they could get from the command deck.

Blue nudged at Blaytz’s mind again, telling him to turn down the next corridor. “Blue, the command room’s straight, not left,” Blaytz complained. Another nudge. Quiznak, he knew better than to ignore his lion. Whatever it was, it must be important for Blue to contact him all the way from her hangar in the castle ship. He turned left. Another prod from Blue and he took the next right, entering a small lab. “What’s so important in here, girl?”

A force drew Blaytz to the console, which started up when he touched the keyboard. A video played across the screen. It was Honerva. He hadn’t met her often, but he knew her well enough to recognize her. She was young in the video, maybe twenty. She launched into a speech, “Log one, begin: I’ve fled from Altea. Unfortunately, this will mean an interruption in my research, but I could not stay at home. I will miss Alfor, but it was necessary that we split up. I intended to tell him so outright, but there was an unexpected complication.”

On screen, Honerva frowned, resting a hand just below her stomach. She was reluctant to continue. She sighed. “I’m pregnant. End log.”  
Blaytz let out a startled (and very loud), “WHAAAAT?!” He slapped a hand over his mouth, straining his ears for the sound of drone patrols converging on his location. He heard nothing, thankfully.

The next log started playing automatically, “Log two, begin: I am not ready to be a mother, but this is my child. I cannot bear the thought of anyone else raising him or her, not even Alfor. As such, when the baby is born, I will put it into stasis until such time as I am ready to take care of it myself. To this end, I will modify and expand on my father’s design of the current stasis pods. As they are right now, the pods could not properly handle or preserve an occupant so young. The pod also needs to be more portable, though this issue shouldn’t be too difficult to fix by adjusting for the size of an infant. So much to think about. I simply wish I could return to my alchemy studies. End log.”

The video logs continued, but Blue mentally pushed Blaytz toward a cabinet beside the monitor. He held back a moment, downloading the videos to a drive, which he then tucked into his suit. Turning to the cabinet, he found a heavy duty safe, locked via keypad. He had a feeling he knew what was inside.  
An alarm started blaring. Sentries would be coming any minute now. He didn’t have time to work out the code, so he broke it open with his bayard, which took the shape of a blaster. He took a barrel-like container from the safe and beat a hasty retreat to the pickup point, a trash ejection port. He ran into a few sentries along the way, dispatching them as well as he could with the bulky package under his arm.

“Hey, guys? I could use a little help here! Sooner rather than later!” Blaytz called into his helmet communicator. He’d reached the trash port, but there was no sign of the Red Lion.

Alfor’s response was broken up, “—‘re on the way, but Gal—interference. Give—five doboshes.”

Five doboshes. Blaytz thought he could manage that. If he only had to hold off sentries, it wouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, that was not the case. A hooded woman materialized before the Paladin.

“Put the pod down and I will kill you quickly, Paladin,” the woman said, her voice oddly familiar.

“Who are you?” Blaytz replied. He was getting a bad vibe off the creature. He just hoped he could stall her long enough for help to arrive. He materialized his bayard, letting it take its full shape as a blue and white trident with accents of black. He couldn’t use it well with only one hand, but he wasn’t about to put the pod down. He could tell that his bayard’s blaster form wouldn’t work against the woman either.

“I am Lady Haggar, advisor to Emperor Zarkon,” she answered, lashing out with a burst of purple energy. Blaytz just barely got the trident up in time to block the attack, which still had enough power to push him back several feet. His feet scuffed heavily against the floor, but he remained standing. Another blast followed the first, and Blaytz couldn’t block it this time. He landed heavily on his back, twitching uncontrollably under the electric attack.

Blaytz couldn’t hold out much longer. He was at a huge disadvantage to the witch. He glanced at the air lock. He had his armor on, and it seemed like the pod was built to last. Could it handle space though? If it couldn’t… Perhaps such a fate was better than anything Haggar had planned for the child.  
He shouted into his communicator, “Alfor, if you can hear this, I’m changing the pickup location!” The Blue Paladin slammed his fist into the button for the air lock and let himself be dragged into space as Haggar let out a shriek, dematerializing.

“NOOO!!!!” Haggar screamed from the safety of the ship. The gamble was paying itself off for the moment. Haggar couldn’t follow Blaytz, and the pod was holding. He was a sitting duck out here though. Galra ships zigzagging quickly diverted their attention to him, circling in close.

A flash of red crossed Blaytz’s vision, followed by a line of ships blowing up. “Need a lift?” Alfor called out. Blaytz sighed in relief then, the Red Lion looming in front of him.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
The remaining Paladins were gathered on the command deck of the castle ship, watching the final video log in silence. They were alone. This was something private, painful. Not even Allura was here. The pod rested at the center of the group. Out of the confusion, Blaytz took a good look at it now. It was a gray canister, the contents within hidden by metal paneling. An assortment of blue, green, and purple tubes sprouted from the top, snaking into a small box on the side of the barrel.

Honerva’s voice played in the background, “Log fifteen, begin: He was born yesterday, my Allains. He looked right up at me with those bright eyes. I faltered for an instant. All those feebs designing a stasis pod to my specifications, and I almost didn’t follow through. But it’s done now. Allains was asleep when I put him into stasis. It was the only way. My research is too important to have a child in the way. I will reawaken him in the future, when I am ready. For now, it’s time to return to Altea. I’ll explain away my absence with a bout of memory loss. No one can expect me to answer questions about where I’ve been if I don’t remember, and I can avoid Alfor this way. End log.”

The video cut out, and the silence pressed in. Alfor understood now. The wound was suddenly fresh again, torn wide open. A tear escaped him, trailing down into his beard. Not only had Zarkon betrayed him, Honerva had too. Alfor dropped to his knees, head in his hands. He sensed the other Paladins moving to comfort him. “Please, I need a moment alone,” he requested, breathing heavily. They understood, and their soft footsteps, interrupted by the door sliding open and shut, quickly faded into nothingness. It was just Alfor and the pod now.

Alfor had a son. Not his and Kiara’s but his and Honerva’s. He reached for the pod, initiating the startup sequence. The gray metal of it slid back to reveal clear icy glass, a small obscured figure within. Finally, the stasis released.

The infant took after Alfor in appearance, with his silver hair and blue markings. His eyes, when he opened them groggily, also matched Alfor’s. Allains’ skin, however, was lighter than his father’s, closer to Honerva’s.

Any anger Alfor felt for Honerva was pushed aside when he held the boy. “Allains, my son…” Alfor paused to wrap the child in his midnight blue cloak. “My only wish is that I could watch you grow up.” There were tears in Alfor’s eyes. Allains was already drifting back to sleep in the warmth of the cloak when Alfor tucked him back into the stasis pod.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Alfor and the remaining Paladins told no one about what they’d discovered, who they’d discovered.

The war continued on for some time, but it wasn’t going well. Gyrgan and Trigel were both defeated and executed at the hands of Zarkon’s witch, Haggar. It was all Alfor could do to recover their Lions. He and Blaytz were on their own. The situation was growing more and more desperate. Thus, Alfor made a decision. Allura didn’t approve, but it was the only option left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaytz arrives on Earth with Allains. When the two finally awaken, the worst happens, and Blaytz must pay the price if he wants to protect the young Altean prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I didn't plan on posting these quite yet, but I've done enough writing over the last day or two to post some bonus pages :). I still intend to try and stick to about a once a month update (maybe twice a month, depending). Enjoy!

Blaytz, in his lion, flew at maximum speed toward the wormhole, his armor and bayard left behind. There was no turning back now. So here Blaytz was, on the other side of a wormhole in an unfamiliar system, ready to hide the Blue Lion and the stasis pod. The other Lions had also been sent away. Alfor had had just enough time to copy Honerva’s work and create a second portable stasis pod, this one large enough for the Blue Paladin. Blaytz remembered the moment well. “Alfor, it should be you. You and your son,” he’d argued.

Alfor shook his head, “I cannot, my friend. I must face Zarkon; otherwise he’ll know something is amiss.”

“Still… it doesn’t feel right…” Blaytz replied, “And who will train the future Paladins if you aren’t there?”

“Allura and Coran. They know more about Voltron than anyone else, and they aren’t key targets like I am. If everything goes as planned, you will be able to help as well. If anyone can train the next generation of Paladins, it’s you.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
“So this is Earth. Not too shabby,” Blaytz commented. He took his lion in closer, getting a closer look. Alfor had selected the Blue Lion’s hiding place well. The planet’s inhabitants were still young and were thousands of decafeebs away from space travel, and the Galra had yet to notice the system, let alone reach it.

The Paladin set Blue down in a series of caves. He sat in silence a moment, staring at the waiting pod. It wasn’t time yet. He exited Blue and set to work, carving Voltron’s (specifically Blue’s) story for the next Blue Paladin. He could feel Blue appraising his work, then a rumble of pleased contentment.

It was a long time before he finished. His duty complete for now, Blaytz returned to the cockpit, ready for the next step. He input the desired date into the pod. It was time to sleep.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Hurried footsteps pounded across the pavement, splashing through heavy puddles of rain. Blaytz dodged a gunshot behind him, cradling Allains to his chest. The infant was several feebs—no, months, Blaytz corrected himself—old now. A little under ten thousand years had passed since Blaytz entered the pod, and it was taking time to adjust. Blaytz had awoken multiple times throughout the years to survey humanity’s progress. He’d made a mistake this time. Now, he and Allains would not be able to stay in cryo-sleep. He shook himself out of the thought; he needed to focus. The last thing he needed was to accidentally get caught or lead the humans to the Blue Lion.

The pair was being hunted. A human had seen Blaytz during his last foray into the nearby human city. The military followed soon after. They didn’t seem to care if they took Blaytz dead or alive, and they were tenacious. The former Blue Paladin knew he wouldn’t be able to elude them for long. Luckily, they didn’t know about Allains. That was a silver lining, at least.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Blaytz and Allains were now aboard a ship bound for a place called Cuba. Blaytz hoped this would throw his pursuers off, but he wasn’t optimistic. Allains was hungry and crying loudly to tell his caretaker so. No amount of rocking or comfort was distracting him, but they were out of supplies. There was nothing Blaytz could do.

“Such a handsome little one. I have some baby food in my cabin if you need any,” an affectionate voice offered. Blaytz recoiled, drawing his hood down. Then, slowly, he looked up to take in a stout woman with chocolate brown hair. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to frighten you, but I understand your situation. My name’s Aleja.” Her words rang with a truth that set Blaytz at ease.

“Perhaps I’ll take you up on that, ma’am.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Allains babbled quietly in his father’s cloak, stomach bulging slightly. The woman, Aleja, studied the strange infant with the silver hair, oddly shaped ears, and blue markings. She got the strangest feeling about him, like he was meant for great things. “What’s his name?” she asked.

“Allains. In English, I believe it translates to… a lance.”

“It fits him.”

“You said you have children of your own?”

“Five, as of right now. My youngest is just a bit older than Lance. We’re a big family, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

An explosion sounded on the upper decks, rocking the boat. Blaytz went silent, putting an ear to the door. Aleja opened her mouth to ask a question, but he shushed her with a quick motion. Heavy clanking footsteps thumped past them but thankfully didn’t stop. The sound faded after a moment.

When Blaytz turned away from the door, he turned his gaze to Allains, then to Aleja. After a moment, he whispered, “Alfor once told me that the prefixes of Altean names denote each familial line. It’s a sacred practice for them. For example, Allains is the son of Alfor, who was the son of Alistair. Somehow, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve met, Aleja.”

Aleja’s eyes widened, but she understood. She sunk onto the bed, leaning over Allains. The boy giggled, reaching up to play with her brown hair. Aleja barely suppressed her shock when the boy’s hair shifted to a matching brown. His marks similarly faded, and the tips of his ears rounded into human shape. If she hadn’t just seen the transformation, Aleja would have thought she was looking at a normal human baby. “Where will you go?”

She took Allains into her arms. Blaytz was back at the door, leaning heavily on it. “I’m going to lead them away. Please… take good care of him,” he implored. Then, Blaytz was out the door. Aleja flinched when the gunshots started ringing out. They seemed to go on forever.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
The sea, though frothing and stormy, almost seemed calm to Blaytz. He’d propped himself on the railing at the stern of the small boat. He was wounded, a steady stream of blood flowing from a bullet wound in his stomach. Allains would be safe, and that was all that mattered.

“Put your hands where we can see them!” A soldier ordered, accompanied by the sound of boots on the deck. Blaytz was surrounded. The men were heavily armed, clad in ocean camo gear.

Blaytz wasn’t listening. The humans didn’t matter now. He coughed heavily, smirking at the waters below. He was going to see his friends once again. “I’ve kept you all waiting, but not anymore,” he whispered, throwing himself overboard. He heard shouts from above, but he was fading. Darkness encroached on Blaytz’s vision as he sank into the depths. Everything grew silent as he closed his eyes for the last time.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Aleja never saw the alien again. Life returned to normal, though explaining how she managed to bring home a baby boy from her trip was a bit complicated. “Anton, he had no one else… I couldn’t just leave him there, all alone,” she defended. “I have a really good feeling about it. Lance McClain, it fits, don’t you think?”

Of course, Carlos wasn’t the type of man to refuse to help others in need, and Lance quickly became just another member of the family. Lance was always a key participant in any sibling mischief. He and his siblings constantly came home scraped, bruised, and dusty but bright-eyed. He never showed any sign that he was anything but normal. Aleja had a feeling even Lance didn’t realize the truth.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
One evening, Lance, five now, was watching cartoons in the family room while his sister, Mariana, read a book for school. Mariana was in her last year before college, and she’d be the first in the family to go. Lance didn’t quite get the importance of it, but he knew everyone was really excited. At a commercial break, the rather bored five-year-old started fidgeting quite a bit. “What ya reading, sis?” he asked, leaning over on the couch to see the cover.

Mariana had always been one to humor her younger siblings, and she did so now, “It’s a book about the history of space exploration I’m reading for school. It’s got some pictures, if you want to look.” She offered the book to Lance, and he instantly started paging through it.

“Wow, this is awesome, sis!” Lance exclaimed, grinning enthusiastically. Then something came over him, a desire. “I want to go to space someday, Mariana.” It was what he was meant to do.

At that moment, by coincidence (or fate), an ad for the Galaxy Garrison flashed across the TV. “Enlist today and represent your planet! The Galaxy Garrison, based in the United States, is committed to advancing technology through space exploration and research. Applications are always open for all positions, though submissions for fighter and cargo pilot positions require additional testing,” the ad explained. Behind the speech, Lance was entranced by video of dramatic space ships and pilots shooting through the solar system.

“That’s what I’ll do. I’ll be a fighter pilot when I’m grown up!” Lance declared, springing to his feet and striking a pose.

A chuckle escaped Mariana at Lance’s sudden determination. “You’ll have to work really hard in school,” she responded.

“That’s fine!”

“You’ll also have to behave yourself. The Garrison doesn’t take any trouble makers.”

Lance was a little more miffed about that, but he nodded his head after a moment. “I think I can do that.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
The years passed quickly, and Lance’s siblings started to move out. Some went to college (the family celebrated wildly on these occasions), others moved out and started families (also accompanied by celebration, of course). Eventually, it was just Lance, though that didn’t last for long. He soon became an uncle, with lots of nieces and nephews to hang out with and take care of.

Life was never dull, but Lance never forgot his dream. He was having some trouble on that front. He struggled in school, no matter how much he studied. As his grades slipped, so too did his conduct. He acted out on impulse when he didn’t do well, though he didn’t mean to. Lance found himself cracking inappropriate jokes to cover for himself.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
The day came to submit his application. Lance wasn’t expecting much, but he had to take the chance anyway. He had zero chance of getting in if he didn’t apply, after all. Lance looked over his essays and other materials one last time. His transcript taunted him, his final GPA well below the average for the Garrison. He hoped that his writing would make up for it.

Waiting for the reply was torturous, but it was worse when the email arrived in Lance’s inbox. He dreaded opening it. The mouse hovered over the “Open” button, ready to reveal the truth.

“Oh, come on, honey, get it over with,” his mama insisted, just over his shoulder. Aleja hadn’t changed much since childhood, though she had gray streaks in her hair from raising her rambunctious pack of children. Carlos was on Lance’s left. All of his siblings had even shown up for this, along with their various husbands, wives, and kids. In short, a veritable mob was thronging the computer to see if Lance had been accepted to the Garrison.

“Just paused for dramatic effect, Mama,” Lance replied, grinning uneasily. He took a very deep breath, then clicked the link. His eyes landed on the words, but his mind was blank. He didn’t recognize what they said until his whole family cheered in a deafening roar. He was in. All that was left was the entrance exam to determine if he’d go into fighter class or cargo class.

The party that followed was one for the history books. Lance didn’t remember most of it. He was just… in shock. He was so close to his dream. He could nearly taste it.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance only tasted defeat on the day of the entrance exam. Cargo class. It felt like a weight dragging him down. Yes, he was the top of his class, but that didn’t matter. Cargo pilots didn’t get to explore space. Sure, Lance would get to leave Earth, but he’d only ever fly along established routes between Earth’s various research outposts. He wanted to go places no human had ever seen.

The airplane ride home drifted by in a blur. Lance didn’t have the heart to tell his family. They would understand, of course, but he didn’t want to burden them with this. He returned home to pack up his things, forcing himself to be upbeat around his mama in particular.

Lance looked around his empty room, quiet. He had a lump of midnight blue fabric in his hands, his baby blanket. It hadn’t frayed or faded in all these years. Lance didn’t know where his mama had gotten it or what it was made of, but he’d had it all his life. Something inside him said to bring it to the Garrison, but he was conflicted. It wasn’t exactly cool to bring a baby blanket to a high tech military school.

“You didn’t get into fighter class, did you?” Aleja asked from the door.

“Wh—er—I have no idea what you mean!” Lance argued, but he couldn’t hide anything from her.

She burst forward, enveloping Lance in a hug. “My sweet, sweet boy…” Lance couldn’t stop the tears then. He sobbed loud, ugly tears with snot everywhere while his mama rubbed soothing circles into his back. “I know it’s not what you wanted, but we’re all so proud of you.” An eternity passed, and Lance pulled back, still sniffling but feeling better. Aleja inspected the baby blanket, smiling. She thought for a moment before tucking it into Lance’s bag. “Take this with you. It’s a part of who you are.”  
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Lance’s roommate, Hunk, was a pretty cool guy. He always shared his cooking, which was absolutely amazing. He was also really smart, considering he was in the advanced engineer class. Half the time, Lance couldn’t keep up with any of what Hunk was saying.

As much as Lance enjoyed hanging out with Hunk, he was struggling at the Garrison. He couldn’t stand to see Keith do so well without even trying. Lance had put his sweat and blood into getting into the Garrison, and Keith had probably just applied on the fly like it was nothing. His motivation dwindled every day he was stuck in cargo class, but he managed to keep his grades at acceptable levels. He couldn’t disappoint his mama with bad grades when he came back for the holidays.

Lance thanked all the powers that be when he got the news: due to a dropout in the fighter class, a spot had opened up. The Garrison would be moving one cargo pilot up. Him. Maybe it wasn’t the way he envisioned it, but Lance was getting exactly what he wanted in the end. He wouldn’t complain about the details of it.  
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Lance was ready to hit the town and blow off some steam after the failed simulation. He’d half-convinced Hunk to join him. He’d collect Pidge, and then they’d be on their merry way. They needed to “bond as a team,” after all. Lance pulled his jacket on over a white t-shirt and jeans. He paused for a moment at the sight of his baby blanket. It was just the right length to use as a cloak and would certainly make it harder for any Garrison officers to see him. He hesitated a moment but pulled it on.  
“Let’s get a move on, Hunk. We still have to grab Pidge,” Lance urged. He motioned to Hunk to follow him into the hallway.

Hunk, nervous as he always was, protested, “We shouldn’t be doing this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now! We'll be getting to the action pretty soon, but I think this is some pretty important set up stuff, along with the lead up to the Voltron crew finding the Blue Lion. That said, the angst is coming. I almost feel bad for poor Lance. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> See ya,  
> Kkoko88


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and the others train to form Voltron, Coran learns the truth, and a certain witch sends one of her druids to confirm her suspicions.

Something inside of Lance clicked when he first touched the cave markings. He was getting the oddest sense of déjà vu, like he’d been here before. The sense only intensified when he looked upon the Blue Lion. It was like it was watching him, judging him.

Keith put his hands on the force field, but it didn’t give. “Wonder how we get through this…” he thought aloud.

Lance strutted up to it. “Maybe you just have to knock,” he said. He didn’t expect it to work, but the force field disappeared at Lance’s touch. The Lion activated, connecting to Lance with a purr of excitement. She sent him and the other humans a vison of Voltron: five individual Lions that formed Voltron.

Blue leaned down to let Lance in, still sending enthusiastic thoughts to him. It was almost overwhelming for the young man, but it wasn’t a bad sensation. The cockpit felt like it was designed just for him, the controls reacting almost without thought. It was a rush.

“Do you guys hear that too?” Lance asked. Deep down, he knew the answer, but he had to be sure.

“Hear what?” Keith asked, looking over the seat at the console.

“I think she’s talking to me,” Lance elaborated. He pressed a button, and Blue stood up and roared. “Okay, got it, now let’s try this.”

“Wait, she? What’s that supposed to mea—!?” Hunk tried to ask, just as Lance pushed forward on the controls, sending them blasting out of the cave.

Hunk was already turning green. The others weren’t far behind, screaming. Lance was barely doing a thing; the Lion was finally getting to stretch her legs. Even so, it felt great to Lance. He barely spared a passing glance at the Garrison before the Blue Lion shot into the sky.  
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“She says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it,” Lance explained. Even if she didn’t use words, Blue certainly had a way with pictures. She kept sending Lance an image of her ripping apart an alien ship, accompanied by savage glee. Lance couldn’t help but feel the same way.

Pidge, always the skeptic, asked, “What did it say exactly?”

“Well, it’s not like she’s saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of…” he answered. That was putting it lightly, but he didn’t think it was the best time to fully explain the sensation.

It was Hunk’s turn next, “Well if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just—I don’t know—give it to them? Sorry, Lion, nothing personal…”

The mood certainly turned serious when Shiro explained the danger of the Galra. Giving Blue up to them wasn’t an option. When the ship appeared, it was all Lance could do to avoid the laser blasts. He didn’t think counterattacking was an option either, but Blue proved him wrong, guiding his hands to the correct buttons. Together, they unleashed an attack of their own, damaging the ship extensively.

Blue had the spotlight, so when Lance turned her away from Earth, the Galra ship followed. Blue wasn’t fast enough though, and it started to catch up. Within seconds, both ships had already reached Kerberos. Pidge made a comment on it, but Lance was more focused on a pulling sensation in his gut, like his energy was being sucked away.

Lance’s vision went blank for an instant. When it came back, he was looking at a circular blue design, and Blue was sending him images of her flying through it. “This may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there…” he verbalized.

“Where does it go?” Pidge asked.

Lance didn’t answer for a moment. “I-I don’t know,” he replied. Then he twisted to face Shiro. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here, what should we do?”

“Whatever’s happening, the Lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together,” Shiro put in. That was all Lance needed. He glanced at the others, took in their determined expressions, and flew into the wormhole.

“Alright, guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance couldn’t put his finger on it. Allura was familiar, but there was no way Lance had ever met her before, considering she’d been asleep for ten thousand years in a castle a bazillion miles away on the other side of a wormhole. Aside from initially flirting with her (which had felt odd in itself), it felt like he was talking to one of his siblings. In any case, Lance could figure that out later. He and Hunk had to get to the Yellow Lion.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
It was faint. Haggar almost thought she’d imagined it. Pure Altean energy. Not the princess’s or her advisor’s, but a recognizable energy signature none the less. Allains, Honerva’s son. Shortly after, she sensed Princess Allura, whose energy covered up any other signatures. It was impossible to tell if she’d sensed Allains correctly (or if she’d imagined it).

Haggar lifted her head in frustration, exhaling deeply. She hurried to Zarkon’s side. “The Blue Lion has returned, and now I feel a resurgence of Altean energy,” she informed.

The reply came quickly, “Alfor’s daughter lives? How?”

“I know not, but it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours.”

“Yes. I shall wipe that foul race from the universe forever and take back Voltron. Contact my commanders.”

Haggar did as ordered. She hadn’t mentioned Allains to the emperor, as she needed to investigate first. No need to say anything before she was certain. While Zarkon spoke with Commander Sendak, Haggar unobtrusively sent a message to one of her druids aboard Sendak’s ship.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Allura could almost feel the breeze on her face in the field of flowers. It was a dream come true to see her father again, even like this. “Father! Father, it is so good to see you!” she exclaimed.

The hologram Alfor (Holo-Alfor) looked just as he did in life, though there was a strange sadness in his eyes that Allura didn’t recognize. “Allura, my only daughter, how I’ve missed your face,” Holo-Alfor replied.

“I’m so frightened. A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don’t know what to do. Please, Father, I need your help.”

“I would do anything to take this burden from you.”

“I don’t know if we should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything… I want to fight, but the Paladins of old are gone. I know what you would do.”

“I scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon’s hands. You urged me to keep them and fight, but for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them.”

“I think I understand.”

“No, Daughter, you were right. I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error.”

The hologram seemed like he wanted to say more, but he decided that he’d given Allura enough to think about. Allura had also given him much to examine. Even in this form, Holo-Alfor was conscious and able to think based on his stored memories. Allura had said nothing of Blaytz or Allains, which did not bode well for their fates.

As Allura left, Coran watched, pleased that he’d thought of this. He moved to follow her, but Holo-Alfor called out, “Coran, I have another matter I must discuss with you. There’s something you must know.”

“Yes, your majesty?”

Holo-Alfor took a moment to collect his thoughts. Then, he told Coran the whole truth.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Training was not going well. They’d managed to form Voltron only one time now, in the battle yesterday against Sendak, and they’d had little success today. They just couldn’t seem to replicate the actions required, even with the castle defenses attacking them. Then, they’d performed terribly in the other drills Coran had given them.

Lance didn’t know the older Altean very well, but he’d seemed distracted. Lance wondered why. Even when the Paladins managed to form Voltron, Coran’s reaction was muted.  
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“Number Three, where did you get that?” Coran asked. He was referring to Lance’s baby blanket, which was spread across Lance’s bed. It was a warm reminder of home for the Blue Paladin, and he was glad he’d worn it the night he, Hunk, and Pidge had sneaked out of the Garrison.

Lance was confused by Coran’s interest but answered, “I’ve had it since I was a baby. Why? What’s up?”

“N-nothing. Nothing at all. You don’t happen to know anyone named Blaytz, would you? Just out of curiosity…”

Lance fixed Coran with a puzzled look. “No? Should I?”

Coran shook his head vigorously. “Of course not, my boy. Oh, I think I hear Allura calling me. I have to go!” The Altean rushed off after that, leaving Lance in the dust. Lance looked on in confusion, then shrugged and headed back to his room.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance liked the Arusians, but a wave of homesickness had washed over him. He just wasn’t in the mood to party anymore. He retreated to the command deck, Coran watching with concern. Instead, Lance sat in silence, thinking.

“Mind if I join you?” Coran asked, and Lance looked up at him.

“How far away from Earth do you think we are, Coran?”

“Let’s take a look.” Coran stepped up to the console and pressed a button, pulling up a star chart of the universe. “Earth is over here.” He pointed at Earth. “And we’re all the way… over…” It was taking a lot of scrolling to show the distance.

Lance watched, following the map. “You ever notice how far the planets are from each other, Coran?”

“Yes. Haven’t you been paying attention?”

“Yeah, but I mean, like, they’re really, really far away. Like, say, Earth. It’s so far, I can’t even see it. The… The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass… I-I can’t see any of it.”

Coran saw the point now, and, for a moment, he forgot about his current problems. “You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea.”

“I know we’re supposed to be brave Paladins and defenders of the universe or whatever, but, honestly, I just want to go home.”

“If I could go home, I would.”

The conversation changed topics a bit after that. Coran tried to liven things up by telling Lance about the Altean version of rain. It was working a bit, and by the time they decided to rejoin the party, Lance was in a much better mood.

“Hey, Rover,” Lance greeted, seeing the little floating robot. It ignored him though and continued its path toward the crystal. Something was wrong, and Lance turned. “Wait. Where’s Pidge?” The robot was beeping now, faster and faster. Lance gasped, realizing the truth. He spun and launched himself at Coran. “Coran, look out!”  
A searing pain flashed across all of Lance’s senses before everything went to black.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance was wavering on the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. He grasped for the strength to wake. He needed to help Shiro, who was facing off with Sendak. It was no use. Lance drifted back into darkness, his last sight of a hooded figure above him. A long white mask obscured the figure’s face.

“My lady, I’ve observed all of the Paladins,” the druid explained, speaking into a small communication device with Haggar’s image on it. The druid’s voice was distorted but masculine.

“And?” came the reply.

“I quickly eliminated the Champion from my examination, as well as the Red Paladin, a Galra half-breed. Neither fit the criteria you provided me with. Of the remaining Paladins, all three appear to be human, though the Blue Paladin has an unusually strong connection with his Lion.”

“What of the Alteans on board?”

“Just the princess and her advisor. There’s no sign of Allains.” He studied Lance from beneath his mask. “Forgive me, my lady. There’s something I must check.”

“What is it, Dolor?”

“Commander Sendak blew up the Castle’s crystal. The Blue Paladin was caught in the blast, but no ordinary human could have survived such damage,” the druid explained. Haggar didn’t reply. “My lady, what actions would you have me take?”

Haggar didn’t answer immediately. “Show me his face,” she ordered. The druid complied, allowing Haggar to study Lance from the communicator. Though his features were human (and distorted by injuries), she recognized something there. “Bring the son of Honerva to me.”

“Understood.”   
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance let out a groan as he was unceremoniously tossed to the ground by a Galra sentry. Another sentry dropped Shiro by his side. Above the pair, Sendak was about to get away with stealing Voltron and the castle. The druid watched from afar, focused on Lance.

The communication window popped up in front of the Galra commander. “Sendak,” Zarkon greeted.

“My mission is complete. I’ve captured the Altean castle, along with all of the Voltron Lions. I am currently preparing for launch and will be delivering them all to you shortly,” Sendak replied.

“This news is most pleasing. You have done your duty. Vrepit Sa!”

“Vrepit Sa!”

The video cut out after that. Sendak pivoted to study his prisoners. “We even have the Champion back. I’m sure that will please Lady Haggar, won’t it, druid?” he asked.

“It’s likely, though she is quite interested in the Blue Paladin.”

“Interested in that weak excuse for a human? Hah! You jest. He wouldn’t last five doboshes in the arena.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> It was so hard not to post this sooner, haha. College is busy though, so it couldn't be helped. On a different note, thank you for all the comments and kudos! It made me feel great! Hopefully, I can keep living up to expectations.
> 
> Until next time.  
> Kkoko88


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter with Rolo and Nyma takes the worst possible turn.

Lance did, in fact, remember the bonding moment. He wasn’t about to tell Keith that, though. Unfortunately, he didn’t remember much of anything else prior to getting blown up, so Lance listened dutifully as everyone told him what he’d missed. They were all gathered around the dining table, a plate of food goo in front of Lance.

“So, what happened to Sendak?” Lance asked.

Allura was the first to answer, “He’s frozen in a cryo-pod. We’re keeping him here in the castle.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He’s too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him.”

“And what about the cloaked one?” Lance asked, a fragment of memory floating to mind.

Keith replied this time, sitting on the table, “Which cloaked one?”

Shiro was on Lance’s left, clearly lost in thought. “Did he have a mask, Lance? Long and white?”

Lance nodded. “What’s that mean, Shiro?” Hunk asked.

Everyone looked to the Black Paladin. “It means there was a druid here,” he answered. His fists were clenched, Lance noticed.

“Maybe they ran away when we beat Sendak,” Hunk chimed in hopefully.

“I don’t think so. Druids are powerful. They’re the ones who took my arm,” Shiro replied.

“Oh,” Hunk whimpered.  
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The druid in question, Dolor, had actually retreated at the first sign of trouble. He couldn’t handle all of the Paladins on his own, even with his magic. Instead, he would play the long game. Besides, Haggar had waited thousands of decafeebs for the boy to resurface. She could wait a little longer. So, for now, Dolor was hidden deep within the bowels of the castle ship, where the sensors wouldn’t pick him up.

When next the ship landed, he would capture the Blue Paladin and take him to Lady Haggar. His chance was coming sooner than expected. He could sense the ship drawing closer to a pair of life forms. Taking a deep breath to focus, he channeled his quintessence and focused on the life forms. Then, he vanished into thin air.  
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There wasn’t much the Paladins could do about their druid problem, so they set course for the Balmera, only to stop to answer a distress beacon. Hunk wasn’t pleased, to say the least. Lance didn’t share Hunk’s opinion.

In fact, Lance was feeling really good, especially when he saw the cute alien girl named Nyma. “Hi! Name’s Lance,” he offered, taking her hand. Nyma seemed receptive, giggling at all of Lance’s best jokes. It was great. Lance and Nyma stepped away from the others after a while, hanging out by a large crate. “I mean, there are only five of us in the entire universe, so I guess you could say it’s kind of a big deal.”

“I don’t understand. The lions are ships?” Nyma asked. “Are they, like, flying statues that you ride on?”

“No, no, no. They’re magic, but also super scientific and advanced, and they fly crazy fast and have all these incredible weapons. Really, the entire castle is just insane. I wish you could see it.”

Lance didn’t realize that Nyma was setting him up. “Yes, it’s too bad we’re not allowed inside… I would love a tour from one of the knights, but I guess the big one is in charge, huh? You have to obey his orders?” She was referring to Hunk, who was busy carrying parts from the castle to Rolo and Nyma’s ship. He was cranky and in a rush to get going; after all, he was worried about Shay and all the other Balmerans.

“Who, Hunk?” Lance scoffed, falling for the bait. “I don’t have to listen to him!” Lance pulled Nyma from the crate, leading her to the castle. She laughed as he did.  
Once inside, a pair of doors slid open with a whir, and Nyma exclaimed, “This place is incredible!”

“Yeah, I guess. You get used to it,” Lance replied, although he was far from actually being accustomed to life in the castle.

“But it’s so gigantic. It must take you forever to get to your lion.”

“Ooh, you’d be surprised.”  
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It was all going so well. Too bad it all had to come crashing down. One minute, Lance was having an awesome date, the next, he turned around to find Nyma swinging a tree branch at his head. He got his bayard out, but it was too late. He cried out and hit the ground, hard. He was too dazed to even reach for his helmet.

Nyma stood over him, smiling. Another figure joined her, the druid from before. “Sorry, Lance. You are kind of cute, but it’s business,” Nyma explained. She bent down and cuffed his hands together, then lifted him over her shoulder.

“Wait, Nyma…” Lance mumbled, but his head was spinning.

Rolo’s ship swung around to hover above them, drawing the Blue Lion up and lowering two lines. The druid gripped one, Nyma the other. In a flash, the ship launched into space, taking the Blue Lion and its Paladin with it.

By the time Allura, Coran, and the other Paladins realized anything was wrong, it was too late. All they found was a blue helmet and a bayard beside a tree.  
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“Commander Prorok, I understand you’re offering a reward to anyone helping capture the Voltron Lions,” Rolo began, looking up from his chair at the communications window. Nyma was beside him, ready to back him up. Dolor, the druid, stood in the shadows behind them.

The Galra onscreen responded, “That’s correct. Do you know where they are?”

“I know where the blue one is. It’s in my ship, along with its pilot.”

“Excellent. Bring it to me, and you’ll have your reward immediately.”

“Just a tick. See, my friends and I have a bit of a checkered past… Some stolen merchandise from the Galra Empire may have fallen into our possession without us knowing about it.”

Prorok thought about it. He wasn’t certain he could do what Rolo was asking of him. Now, Dolor stepped forward and spoke, “I’m certain that a full pardon can be arranged. Lady Haggar eagerly anticipates the arrival of the Blue Paladin, commander.”

The commander flinched at the sight of the druid, barely managing to collect himself. The druids made him nervous. He nodded and replied, “Of course, yes, it can be arranged for the brave souls who bring Emperor Zarkon a Voltron Lion. Is that all?”

“We’ll take the reward, too,” Nyma chimed in, keeping herself composed.

“Of course.”

Rolo nodded. “Alright. We’re on our way.” The transmission cut out, and Rolo leaned back. “I almost feel sorry for those Voltron folks. Seemed like a nice bunch.”  
Nyma brushed off her own feelings of guilt about Lance, who was locked in the hold. “If you’re feeling guilty, you can turn yourself in. Stealing from Zarkon carries a life sentence,” she justified, though it was more to herself than to Rolo. She didn’t have to take Lance. She’d planned to just cuff him to a tree and leave, but the druid had approached her and offered so much more. What else was she supposed to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, things aren't going well for Lance at the moment. Next chapter should come out around the normal day (so around May 20), and it definitely gets worse before it gets better for our Blue Paladin. Also, this update is pretty much a half chapter, since I'm posting it early. Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Kkoko88


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haggar gets to work on her newest prize, and Coran spills the beans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so quick warning before we begin. There is some druid torture (nothing too bad, in my opinion). It's mostly just them using magic. On the other hand, trying not to spoil anything, there is fighting in the arena, which is bloody (and Lance doesn't get off easy at all).
> 
> With that warning, here's the chapter.

A throbbing pain pulsed through Lance’s head. His throat was dry and scratchy. Lance let out a groan and pried his eyes open. He was strapped to some sort of table, his armor gone, leaving him just in his black flight suit and a rag of a purple t-shirt. Just like Shiro’s clothes when he’d crashed on Earth. Oh no. This wasn’t good. Not one bit.

“Yes, my lady. It was quite simple. The bounty hunters did most of the hard work, and though they escaped, you and Emperor Zarkon have your prizes,” Dolor explained, his voice drifted into the room as he and a woman entered the room. The door hissed shut behind them.

“Why do you guys hide behind those masks?” Lance slurred, still out of it. “Too ugly to show your faces?” He smirked. The woman, Haggar, who wore druid robes (minus the mask), inspected Lance, tracing her hands along his chin and up to his cheekbones. Lance shivered and tried to twist his head away, but it was no use. “Hey, normally I love a lady’s attention, but we’re moving a bit fast for my taste…” he mumbled.

Haggar ignored Lance and turned to Dolor. “He has promise. After all, he is Honerva’s son. Before we begin, however, we’ll have to snap him out of this form, by force, if necessary,” she explained.

That didn’t sound ominous at all, Lance thought sarcastically. Beneath it though, he was worried. What did she mean? His parents were Carlos and Aleja McClain. He had brothers and sisters and plenty of cousins. He had a family. He was born in Cuba. He’d grown up there before coming to the U.S. to study at the Garrison. He didn’t know anyone named Honerva… and yet… No, Lance was human. The witch was messing with his head. That was all. Shiro had similar stories about his stay with the druids. This wasn’t any different.

Lance snapped out of his thoughts as Haggar leaned over him, her hands crackling with purple electricity. “This will hurt, Allains, but it is necessary.” Lance tried to fire off a witty reply, but screams ripped themselves from his throat as Haggar laid her hands on his chest and forehead.  
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Lance didn’t know how much time had passed, but it had been long enough that Haggar was growing frustrated. She wanted something out of Lance that she wasn’t getting. He figured it had to do with her name for him. Allains. Lance didn’t have much time to think on these matters. Even when Haggar wasn’t torturing him with her magic, at least one other druid always remained to continue the process. The pain was excruciating.

It didn’t seem like the team was coming for him either. Lance didn’t begrudge them that. He’d barely been a Paladin a few days before this all happened. Allura would have the Paladins recover the Blue Lion, of course, but it would be easy to train someone else to take Lance’s place. Someone better, more focused, who wouldn’t get himself caught because he hit on a girl.

Haggar was back, speaking with one of her druids, “Stimulation with quintessence is not having the intended effect. I think, perhaps, that we must take another route.”

Lance didn’t know the other druid’s name. This one was female though, based on voice. “Physical stress may suffice to force his latent characteristics to the forefront,” she hypothesized.

Haggar nodded. Lance was too exhausted to try and argue, but he had a feeling he knew what they were talking about. The arena. The witch replied, “Yes, that could work. We made much greater progress with the Champion while he was in the arena. Arrange for it immediately.”  
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Team Voltron had barely saved the Balmera and its inhabitants. It was a wakeup call. They couldn’t do this without Lance. It didn’t help that the trail had gone cold while they dealt with the effects of the corrupted crystal. So as of right now, they were all gathered on the command deck, unsure what to do.  
Pidge was busy hacking into every Galra communications channel she could, but things weren’t looking good. The others waited to hear any news she might pick up. For her part, Allura was focused on tracking the Blue Lion. “Hmm, I think I’m getting closer,” she commented. “We’ll get the Blue Lion back before you can say, ‘Yelmor!’”

Hunk clenched his teeth. “And Lance, you mean. The Blue Lion and Lance,” he insisted.

Allura sighed and looked away. “I am sorry, Hunk, but we don’t even know that Lance is still alive. We can’t risk resources to—”

She broke off as Coran entered, a tray of food goo and water pouches in hand. He stopped and took in the situation. Finally, he asked, “What’s wrong?” No one answered. “Princess, Paladins?”

Keith spoke up now, “Allura’s trying to abandon Lance.”

Allura glared. She had to defend herself, “I was not. I was just saying that it would be best to focus on recovering the Blue Lion, rather than—”

Keith leaped to his feet, glaring back at the princess. “Rather than risk resources on a lost cause, on a human?”

“That isn’t what I was going to say!” Allura argued.

“It’s exactly what you were going to say!” Hunk sided with Keith.

Coran’s head swiveled between each person as they spoke. “Let’s all calm down now…” he tried to input.

Keith shouted, “No, I’m not just going to calm down!”

“GUYS!” Shiro shouted, his voice thundering. The arguing came to a halt. Silence. “Coran’s right. We need to stay calm.” He looked to Coran now, smiling slightly. If anyone had a right to be freaking out, it was Shiro. However, the Black Paladin was stoic, breathing deeply. “We’re going to save Lance and get the Blue Lion back.”

“But—” Allura protested.

Coran interrupted, “Princess, I agree with the Paladins. Besides, there’s another reason we should be getting Lance back.”

“What’s that?” Pidge asked, though she was still focused on her hacking. She continued tapping at the keyboard.

Coran’s gaze slid from each person to the next. He took a deep breath. “Before King Alfor’s artificial intelligence was corrupted, he told me something… You all know that Princess Allura is his daughter, of course. Well, long before Alfor married Allura’s mother, he loved another woman. Her name was Honerva.”

Allura’s eyes widened. “Wait, the Honerva? The alchemist?” she asked.

Coran nodded. The Paladins didn’t recognize the name, but they listened intently. “The relationship didn’t last long. Honerva went missing for over a decafeeb. When she returned, she claimed to have no memories of the missing time or her bond with Alfor. The two drifted apart after that.”

“What does this have to do with Lance?” Keith interjected, arms crossed.

Coran frowned. “Perhaps it’s easier to show you,” he replied. The Altean man strode to the console and projected a file onto the large screen. Even Pidge was watching now.

It was Honerva’s first log. “Log one, begin: I’ve fled from Altea. Unfortunately, this will mean an interruption in my research, but I could not stay at home. I will miss Alfor, but it was necessary that we split up. I intended to tell him so outright, but there was an unexpected complication.” Allura and the Paladins watched in confusion, taking in the way Honerva frowned, her hand on her stomach. Allura was the first to realize the truth. She took a quick, sharp breath as the log finished, “I’m pregnant. End log.”

The room remained silent. The second log started playing on its own, detailing the pod that Honerva intended to design. Coran took the initiative once more, speaking over the video, “King Alfor didn’t know until late into the war with the Galra Empire, when the Blue Paladin recovered these files and the pod containing the infant. By then, it was all he could do to send his son away with the Blue Lion and its Paladin. To Earth. And if something happened to the Blue Paladin, its possible Allains was raised by humans.”

“Lance is human though…” Hunk thought aloud. “He looks just like his family.” Hunk knew this from times he’d visited his friend’s family.  
Allura frowned. She explained, “Alteans are a chameleon race. We can shift and blend in with other cultures and peoples as needed. If Lance were adopted by a human family, it’s likely he would’ve…”

“…Unconsciously shifted to look like them,” Coran finished. “He would never know the truth, that he wasn’t human. Even the pod couldn’t tell the difference. And his given name, Allains, would likely also have been changed to an Earth equivalent, Lance.”

Allura had so many questions. She wished she could ask her father, but she’d destroyed the A.I. Aside from that, Honerva’s video logs and Coran’s scant knowledge were all she had to work off. She had a brother; well, she had a half-brother. There was another Altean besides her and Coran. She understood why Coran insisted they find Lance now. It didn’t mean she was pleased, by any means. She was furious, in fact, that Coran and her father had hidden this. Why would they keep her in the dark?

“How long have you known this, Coran?” Keith asked.

Coran’s expression said it all. He’d known for too long, far too long. “I’ve known Allura had a brother since the first time she spoke with her father’s artificial intelligence. It took a bit longer to figure out that that brother was Lance, but it… wasn’t too much of a stretch,” he explained.

The tension in the room was thick, oppressive. Shiro looked from each face to the next. “We’re going to get Lance back. We can figure everything else out once that’s dealt with,” he ordered. “First though, we need a plan. Pidge, what news have you been able to collect?”  
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A firm hand shoved Lance into the arena, and he stumbled, weakened as he was by his time with the druids. Thunderous roars from the crowd assailed him on all sides. The arena itself was barren as Lance rose to his feet. He saw purple Galra all around him in the stands. It was like he was in a fishbowl, everyone looking in at him.

“Ooh, fresh meat! This’ll be fun!” a voice called out, and Lance ducked just in time to avoid the swing of a glowing purple axe. The Blue Paladin jumped back as a retreat, trying to keep his distance. His opponent was a Galra at least twice his size and covered in scars. “You’re a crafty one. Smaller than the Champion, but you’ll give me ample challenge.”

Lance yelped as another slash came too close for comfort. “You mean Shiro! I’m not—I—” his protest turned into a shout of pain as the axe nicked his wrist. That’s right, this was for real. Shiro had survived this for a year. Could Lance manage even a fraction of that? If there were any chance of escape, he knew he would have to go for it.

Focus. Lance could think about that later. For now, he had to put away the jokes and the fear. An icy calm settled over the Blue Paladin. It felt like the other gladiator was moving in slow motion. Lance jabbed an elbow into the Galra’s wrist, and the axe went flying. Now, it was a fair fight. Lance guarded against a roundhouse kick, sliding back several feet. Then, he lashed out, slamming into the Galra.

They went crashing to the ground in a ball of chaos. Before Lance knew it, his enemy had him pinned down. The Galra was choking Lance. As the darkness encroached, Lance desperately grabbed for anything that might help at all, but the arena didn’t have any rocks or blunt objects… And then Lance’s hand closed around cool metal. The axe. He swung it into the Galra’s side.

For a brief moment, the arena waited with bated breath to see who came out the victor. Then, the gladiator’s grip loosened. He tried to speak, but nothing came out, just a wet, gurgling laugh. He grinned darkly down at Lance before collapsing on top of him. The audience exploded into applause. Lance shuddered and let a pair of sentries drag him away.  
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Lance didn’t know how long it’d been. Long enough that his hair had grown out a little bit. Long enough that a myriad of scars and fresh wounds covered his body. Long enough that he couldn’t force himself to crack jokes, especially not when druids or guards were around.

Blue sent Lance comforting thoughts from time to time, but she always sounded far away and preoccupied. She had to focus on keeping her particle barrier up. She couldn’t let the Galra in.

Now, Lance was waiting at the entrance to the arena, guards at his sides. He was up next. He would kill, or his opponent would kill him. It was simple. He didn’t have time right now to worry about how long he’d been here. The arena awaited.  
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In a spectator’s box far above the battlefield, Haggar looked on with displeasure. There’d been no change within the boy, and she couldn’t hide his identity from Emperor Zarkon much longer. She would have to tell him that the Blue Paladin was imprisoned on the ship, that he was the rising new gladiator in the arena. But if she did that, Zarkon would certainly use Allains as a bargaining chip for the Black Lion. The Paladins would never agree to such a trade, and Zarkon would execute his prisoner in anger.

Haggar was drawn from her thoughts by Emperor Zarkon, who commented, “I was unaware that we’d captured more humans…”

“Just the one, my lord. I recently traveled to Earth to study the cave system that held the Blue Lion. My druids discovered the boy nearby. It seems he was a student at the planet’s space exploration school, a branch of their military,” Haggar answered. It was mostly a lie, but she had, indeed, done some research on the carvings within the network of caves. She’d also looked into the Galaxy Garrison, as it was called. “Their technology is primitive, nothing to worry about, but the school seems to produce skilled and intelligent fighters. The Champion was trained there as well.” Haggar hoped it was enough to sate Zarkon’s interest.

The emperor’s glowing purple eyes narrowed, but he didn’t question her further on the matter.  
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The worst had happened. Lance had won another fight, barely, but that wasn’t the problem. He was on the ground, staring down at where his left leg used to be. He struggled to take in one breath. Then another. “Oh, quiznak…” he managed to get out. There was blood, but Lance’s vision had turned into a hyper-focused tunnel. Everything inside of him was numb. Shock. He was in shock.

Was this what it had been like for Shiro? Did he lose his arm in the arena? Did the druids take it? Did it hurt? Lance had never asked. It had seemed too personal. These thoughts drifted through Lance’s head as he was dragged away.

Then, the pain set in. White hot. Unbearable.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
“Somewhere inside Sendak’s memories, we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon and rescue Lance,” Allura said, focused on Pidge, who was hard at work.

Coran frowned. His eyes were on the princess. “I don’t think your father would approve of searching through an enemy’s memories, regardless of the reason…” he said.

Allura replied sharply, “I know, but he wasn’t always right.” There was a tense pause. “We have to do all we can right now.” Allura was clearly still frustrated.

Clearing his throat, Shiro broke the silence, “Anything good yet, Pidge?”

The youngest of the Paladins continued typing but answered, “We were only able to salvage bits and pieces.”

A sigh escaped Keith. “We need something to work with, anything. Right now, we don’t even have a decent map of the empire.”

The Black Paladin looked down, his arms crossed. “If we could just find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run, we could start to free planets one by one. We could also get more up-to-date information that way.”

“Lance and the Blue Lion need to be our first priority,” Keith insisted. “We can’t do our job without them.”

“I agree with Keith,” Hunk chimed in, nodding his head vigorously.

Shiro met their eyes, one after the other. “I understand, but Zarkon’s been building his empire for ten thousand years. Lance will be under high security, likely at central command, and we’re not going to be able to break him out overnight with four inexperienced pilots and one support ship.”

Pidge joined in again, “Okay, I’ve cross-referenced Sendak’s memories with the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a… ‘Universal Station.’”

“Universal Station?” Hunk asked, getting between Pidge and the computer. “Like, the kind of station that controls the whole universe?”

“Well, we are translating it from Galra, so it could also be ‘Galactic Hub,’” Pidge explained. She shoved Hunk aside and got back to work.

Coran moved to the console and added, “I’m pulling up the location of your Universal Hub on our screens now.” On cue, three planets popped up on screen, ringed by white circles.

“Sooo… where is it? Because I don’t see anything,” Hunk commented.

“I don’t know,” came Coran’s reply. “Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates.” The ginger Altean reworked the settings a bit, but nothing changed.

Keith had been quiet, but now he thought aloud, “Maybe he remembered it wrong…”

“Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak’s memories,” Pidge guessed.

“Only one way to find out. Let’s go take a look,” Allura commanded.  
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Haggar wondered if she’d been wrong. If the Blue Paladin really was Allains, the physical stress of losing a limb should have exposed his Altean form. At the very least, if it turned out that he truly was human, the boy was still functioning quite well as a replacement for the Champion.

“My lady, we are ready,” Dolor informed Haggar. The other druid gestured to a door, which slid open to reveal several druids, crowded around a stone medical slab. Lance was fastened to the table, practically gasping for breath. A band of metal had been fitted around the stump of what was left of his leg, and one of the druids focused a stream of purple magic into the wound.

“Never thought I’d thank one of you guys…” Lance slurred, leaning his head back on the metal slab. The pain was lessening somewhat now. Either the druid had partially healed him or she had used some sort of magic druid anesthetic on him. Lance had a rising feeling it was the latter. He found himself drifting off, ignorant to everything around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, things aren't going well for Lance, but the Paladins are coming! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I liked writing it! Also, thank you for all the kudos, bookmarks, and comments! They mean a lot to me, and it always makes my day a bit better. Next chapter should be out in about a month, so keep an eye out for it.
> 
> Kkoko88


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team launches into action. Lance struggles to deal with new revelations and the consequences of his time in the arena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a heads up, I didn't get quite as much time to edit this as usual since I'm leaving on a trip. I hope you enjoy!

“Okay, download complete,” Pidge said. She, Allura and the other Paladins had broken into the hub and hacked in.

The group kneeled just behind her, and Keith was the first to ask, “What’s it say?”

Pidge took in the information as fast as her program could translate it. “Nothing. This place doesn’t have any useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out.”

Shiro sighed, then ordered, “Let’s get back to the castle.”

“Hold on. Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?” Allura broke in. She pointed through the window before looking back down at Pidge.

The Green Paladin searched through the data. “Um, it’s scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to central command.”

Allura stood, rising above the Paladins. “That’s where they have the information we need, and I’m going to sneak aboard and get it for us.”  
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When next Lance awoke, he didn’t quite remember where he was. That changed when he noticed the purple-lit cell and stiff bed beneath him. A raggedy sheet was pulled over his body. It did little to keep him warm. “What the quiznak happened?” he asked, lifting himself into a sitting position.

He rubbed his eyes, looking around blearily. For once, he was alone, no druids or guards. Weird… Lance tentatively called out, “Hello?” No reply.

Lance shoved the sheet off and stood up to look around. Well, he tried to stand up, anyway. What he actually did was flop forward onto the floor like a fish out of water. A burning pain flared up in his leg, and a shout of pain escaped Lance. A scream of horror followed. He’d seen his leg. It matched Shiro’s arm, except Lance’s was a mix of light (almost white) gray, black, and blue, with accents of gold, rather than gray and black.

“No, no, no, please no…” Lance whimpered. He scrunched himself up into as tight of a ball as he could, head in his hands. Oh God, he couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe? Tears streaked down his face, pooling on the cold metal floor. This was real. His leg was gone. Replaced. Forever.

Some vargas later, Lance uncurled himself, eyes dry but swollen and red. A strange curiosity had overcome him. He pulled himself back onto his cot, sitting with his legs dangling. Scratch that. Letting the prosthetic hang was putting a painful pressure on Lance’s stump. He twisted so he was sitting across the length of the bed, legs laid out in front of him.

Lance gave an experimental wiggle of his toes. Only his right ones moved. He concentrated on the left. It felt like he was moving his toes, but the prosthetic didn’t budge. Shiro could articulate his right arm’s fingers and move the arm like it was a part of him, so why couldn’t Lance? “Come on…” Lance whispered. He managed to get the smallest of twitches out of the pinky toe.  
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Allura tore off her Galra helmet, sprinting down the hall with Shiro. “Hurry! We can’t leave once the ship goes into hyper-speed!” she called out. They were almost out of time. She could feel the ship rising in altitude, its engines flaring to life.

Blaster shots flew by them as they neared a hangar. Sanctuary, but there was a problem. The doors weren’t shutting fast enough. The Galra were going to catch them. Allura hurried forward, gripping the doors to force them shut, but she couldn’t do that and get into the escape pod. Shiro joined her, his hand lit up to weld the doors together. “It’s taking off! Get in the pod!” Allura shouted.

“I’m not leaving you!” Shiro responded. He didn’t move.

Allura glanced back at the pod, which was locking down. She saw what she needed to do. There was no other choice. “You have to!” she ordered. She grabbed Shiro by the back of his armor and threw him, screaming, into the pod.

Allura heard him scream, “No!” It was too late though. The pod had locked itself. The princess cast a sad look at Shiro through the glass as the sentries forced their way into the hangar. She put on a small smile when the pod launched and the Galra surrounded her.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Hunk flashed a concerned look at Shiro. “But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head-on would be the dumbest possible thing we could ever do…” he questioned.

The Black Paladin shut his eyes. He knew what the odds were. “I know, but now we don’t have a choice,” he answered. They’d get their friends back. Both of them. Lance and Allura.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance lay on his cot, staring up at the ceiling. He was studiously ignoring an itch where his left leg used to be. It just wouldn’t go away. He’d heard about this somewhere… Maybe from Shiro? Or a documentary back home?

He was so busy thinking that he almost missed the clank of sentries passing by. He flinched, but they didn’t stop at his cell. Instead, they stopped at the next one over, and a door slid open, followed by a feminine “Oof” and a thump. Then the door shut, and the sentries stomped off. Lance never had neighbors here. Probably because he was a VIP (Very Important Prisoner, obviously). He managed a rare chuckle at that one then grew serious once again. Whoever was in the other cell, they had to be important too.

Lance’s curiosity got the better of him. He maneuvered his way to the window of his cell door, still unable to walk properly, and asked, “Hello?”

The response came quickly, tinged with surprise, “Lance?” The Blue Paladin recognized that voice.

“Allura?”

“Lance, I’m so glad you’re alright. We were worried we were too late…”

The Blue Paladin’s face fell, but Allura didn’t realize her mistake. How could she? Lance took a deep breath and forced himself to keep his voice upbeat. “Heh, I didn’t know you all cared so much. Are you sure you didn’t just miss my stunning good looks and sharp wit?” The words felt hollow.

"There's so much to tell you, but... perhaps it should wait."  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
A deep rumble shook through the ship, just outside of the cells. The sentries didn’t even have time to react when the Yellow Lion’s head burst through the exterior, jaw opening to reveal its Paladin. He blasted the guards into scrap metal in an instant and leaped down.

Hunk wasn’t wasting time. He melted the door to the first cell he saw, revealing Allura. “Hunk!” she called out.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” he explained.

Allura looked up in shock, asking, “What are you doing here? Tell me you didn’t bring the Lions straight to Zarkon’s central command!” She gasped, another thought. “Where’s the Black Lion?” The sound of Shiro played through Hunk’s helmet, just loud enough for Allura to hear. “I have to save Shiro. Hunk, Lance is in the next cell over. He needs your help!”

The princess took off, not waiting for Hunk’s answer. Hunk didn’t delay either. He gave Lance’s cell the same treatment as Allura’s and struggled not to gasp. His friend was in bad shape. “Heya, Hunk…” Lance greeted him, forcing a smile. “I’m… gonna need some help getting to Blue.” His eyes drifted to his left leg.

Hunk nodded, already helping Lance up. “Change of plans, guys,” Hunk said into his helmet.

Pidge had already heard the exchange and said through the comms, “My sensors show that the Blue Lion is on the other side of the ship, probably to limit it from connecting with Lance.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
It hadn’t taken long to reach the Blue Lion. Most of the sentries were converging on Shiro and Allura’s position, and Hunk had easily mown down the remaining enemies with his bayard. Now, he and Lance stood outside the Blue Lion as its particle barrier came down like a waterfall.

They climbed into the cockpit, and Hunk set Lance down. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Hunk asked. Lance didn’t answer. “Lance?”

“As okay as I can be right now.” Lance took the controls. Blue’s presence enveloped him, comforting. “Okay enough to fly.”  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Coran had helped Lance out of his Lion and up to the command deck by the time Allura was ready to wormhole them. The advisor had taken one look at Lance and pulled him into a hug.

The other Lions were just pulling into their hangars now, Paladins breathing sighs of relief. That’s when the glowing blue wormhole opened up in front of the castle, encompassing Lance’s vision. It was stunning after so long in Galra captivity… until the lightning-like druid magic slammed into it, turning everything into that awful shade of purple that Lance hated so much now.

“Coran, what’s happening?” Shiro asked.

“The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised. It’s breaking down!” Coran exclaimed, eyes wide.

Lance looked from Allura to the elder Altean. This didn’t sound good. Lance only wished he could help, but he was useless like this. “What does that mean?” he asked.  
“It means we have no control over where we’re headed!” Coran answered. A force shook the castle then, knocking the four lions from the main hangar and into the wormhole walls, where they disappeared. Blue, safely shut down in her personal hangar, was the only remaining Lion.

Allura lifted her hands from the castle controls. “They’ve vanished through the temporal rift!” she cried out. “The Lions are gone!” Lance, Coran, and Allura were all alone now…  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
If Coran was scared, he was trying not to show it. He leaped into action and exclaimed, “Let’s check the rift exit positioning monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us!”

Lance turned to Allura, saw her staring intently at something ahead of them. He followed her gaze. “There’s something there, ahead of us!” he called out, just as Allura shouted, “Coran, look! There appears to be something on the other end!”

Allura continued, “We’re heading right toward it!”

Coran saw it now too. “Scanners show that there’s no exit. It’s just nothingness.” Over his shoulder, he said, “Find an exit before we run smack into the void! Lance, hold onto something!”

The princess pulled up a pair of holographic displays, but angry red symbols covered them. “I can’t. I’ve lost control of the castle.”

Lance watched in horror as they reached the end. He’d survived everything just to die like this? He heard Coran call, “Brace yourselves, we’re about to hit it!” Lance couldn’t let this happen, but what could he do? He wasn’t sure, but a new determination was swelling up inside him.  
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They were inside some sort of weird Groundhog Day time loop scenario, but this time, there was a ticking clock constantly counting down. Though Lance and Allura were unaffected, Coran kept growing younger and younger each time they reached the end of the corrupted wormhole. He was in his teens now, rebellious to Allura’s orders. The mice also kept changing into different forms with each loop.

“You don’t understand me at all! You have no idea what I’m going through!” a young, pimply Coran whined to Allura. “I’ll be in my control area! Hmph!”

Allura was still fruitlessly looking at her displays. However, she flicked them away a moment later. “I can’t manually enter coordinates, but the castle will automatically lock on to the Lions’ whereabouts, if we can locate them!” she exulted, bringing up a star map. More red appeared on the map. “It’s not working! I’m unable to hone in on their location.”

Loud opera-like music started playing, courtesy of Coran. This couldn’t keep happening, Lance decided. He managed to get over to Allura, resting his hand solidly on her shoulder. She turned to him, “Oh Lance, I don’t know what to do…”

“Well, your idea just now sounded good. Maybe you just need something to amplify the connection,” Lance answered. He watched as Allura’s eyes lit up with realization.

“You and the Blue Lion! Of course!” Allura grinned. She took Lance’s free hand and turned back to the star map. A surge of energy shot through Lance, similar to when the Blue Lion first opened a wormhole to Arus. Then, the displays turned blue once again. Just as they reached the end once more, a clean, pure wormhole opened in front of the castle.  
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“I’m not Altean.” Lance and the others were gathered in the kitchen. “No way.” After the wormhole incident, they’d gone and collected everyone else. Shiro had spent some time in a pod for his injuries, but it hadn’t been long.

Allura looked displeased but like she’d expected this. “Lance, I know it’s hard to believe…”

Lance cut her off, “No. I’m not Altean! My name isn’t Alleans or whatever.” Coran almost corrected him but smartly chose not to. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m Lance McClain. I’m from Cuba. My parents are from Cuba. I’m not some fancy space prince. End of discussion.”

Keith sat across from Lance. He knew how the other boy felt. After all, he was having a bit of an identity crisis as well, not so sure he was entirely human either. “Lance, are you absolutely certain? Maybe you were adopted and they never told you,” he suggested. He instantly regretted it when Lance leveled a sharp glare at him.

Lance shoved his chair back and stood, grabbing a pair of crutches. He stormed off, leaving behind a roomful of worried onlookers. “I’ll talk to him,” Shiro announced.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Lance didn’t know why he’d acted like that. Coran had told him all of the reasons they thought he was Altean, and it had just… overwhelmed him. He didn’t know how to handle it. If Carlos and Aleja McClain weren’t Lance’s parents, then who was he, really? Coran said he was Allura’s brother, but Lance was no prince. That wasn’t his life. So he was desperately assuring himself that he was human. One hundred percent.

None of this brought into account that Lance was missing a physical part of himself too, but that was an entirely different set of issues, which was certainly affecting his current thought process. Though the pain was phantom, it felt real and constant. Lance, lying on his bed, rubbed at the seam between metal and skin, trying to get some relief.

A knock sounded on the door. Instinctively, Lance knew who it was. He didn’t want to let Shiro in, and yet, the Black Paladin was the only one who really understood. Another knock. Lance wrapped his blanket around himself. “Come in,” Lance called.

The door opened, and Shiro came in. Lance shifted to make room on the bed. “Lance…”

“I know. I shouldn’t have yelled at Allura and Coran.”

“That’s not why I’m here. Lance, I… I won’t lie. This is going to be hard.” Shiro was gripping his right arm. Lance unconsciously touched his leg.  
—————————————————Line Break—————————————————  
Later, vargas after Shiro left, Lance was trying to sleep. It wasn’t working. As such, he was wide awake when another visitor knocked on the door. Lance frowned. He hadn’t expected anyone else to come by. “Door’s open!” Lance called out.

Keith was Lance’s surprise visitor. “What’s up, mullet?” Lance asked, as nonchalant as he could be.

The Red Paladin wasn’t buying it. “Cut it out, Lance. You don’t have to pretend. You’re allowed to be scared,” he insisted, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

“I’m not--” Lance broke off. Keith was right. “The truth is… I’m terrified, Keith. I don’t know how Shiro managed as long as he did… And now, on top of that, I have to deal with this giant bombshell, and everyone expects me to just… be okay with that?!”

“No one expects that.” Keith’s voice was firm, to the point. “Just deal with one problem at a time.”

“One problem, huh… Well, why don’t we start with the fact that everyone thinks I’m an alien?”

“You’re still you, Lance. It doesn’t change anything. You’re still the same person you’ve always been. If—If I were in the same situation, I’d hope everyone else would see that.” Keith looked oddly vulnerable to Lance, like his words meant something more. The moment stretched on, and then Keith closed himself off again. “Anyway, I should go, um, get some training in before our next mission.”

With that, Keith excused himself and booked it out of there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins go home in search of the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya everyone, I hope you enjoy the update. As a side note, I have some digital art I'm attempting to embed in this chapter. I saw one source that said I should use Rich Text vs HTML to insert pictures (this is the method I'm going to try, so if the formatting looks different, that's why). We'll see if it works properly, but if it doesn't, please let me know :). I'll find some other way to attach it.

As much as Shiro wanted to go to the coordinates in his arm, he could see that the team was in no state to face a dangerous mission. Allura, Coran, and Lance were all distracted by one thing, while Keith seemed just as distracted by something else. Thus, Shiro had called a meeting on the bridge.

He addressed everyone, “I think everyone will agree that our next logical step is to return to Earth. After everything that’s happened, we need the truth about Allura’s brother. Any questions?” Hunk’s hand rose hesitantly. “Yes, Hunk?”

“Er, well, if we’re going back, can we see our families while we’re there?” he asked. Shiro nodded an affirmative. A tenseness visibly drained from Hunk’s frame. He was overjoyed. It should have been the same for Lance.

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Varadero Beach. For a while there, Lance didn’t think he’d live to ever see this place again, with its glittering cerulean water and white sand. Everything was different now though. Maybe Lance had changed too much, but it just felt… small.

There was no avoiding this now. Lance looked up from the sand to a spread-out, one-story bungalow-style house spread out across the beach. It was squat, low against the surrounding foliage.

“Let’s get a move on. We can’t risk staying too long,” Shiro suggested. He and Allura stood beside Lance, one on each side of the younger boy. They kept close to Lance as he hobbled across the beach on crutches, ready to catch him should he stumble. Hunk was off seeing his family, Keith had opted to stay on the castle, and Lance didn’t know where Pidge had gone.

The trio started forward. They’d dressed in their casual clothes, rather than armor, to avoid frightening anyone or drawing attention. Lance’s blanket was around his neck like a cloak. Shiro had to help him through the sand at times, but soon enough, they were at the door.

Lance lifted his hand to knock but thought better of it. Instead, he twisted the knob, swinging the door open. Instantly, the smell of home wafted over him, a mix of sea spray and sweets baking in the oven. It was overwhelming. Unconsciously, he pulled his pant leg down a bit lower, concealing the metal beneath.

“Who’s there?” a voice called out. Lance’s mama. Aleja leaned out of the kitchen entrance curiously. She had a long apron on and oven mitts, a frying pan of plantains in one hand. Her hair had noticeably more gray in it. Lance knew the reason why.

“Hey, Mama. I’m home,” Lance managed to get out.

The pan clattered to the stone kitchen floor. “Lance!” she called out, surging forward to hug him. She drew back at his yelp of pain, noticing the crutches and the scars that littered Lance’s face. “Th-they, the Garrison, told me you were dead… An accident in training.” She ran a hand across Lance’s cheekbone, looking for something else. “I knew it couldn’t be true, but… what happened? Where did you go?”

Allura picked this moment to interrupt, “I’m sorry, madam, but we’d like to ask you some questions, and we don’t have much time.”

Aleja looked from Lance to Allura, a sad smile of realization on her lips. “I knew this day would come, but I didn’t expect it so soon. I thought I’d have more time…” she thought aloud. “Let’s sit.” She gestured to the living room, with its well-worn couches.

Lance, Allura, and Shiro did as she asked. Once Aleja settled into her seat, Shiro asked, “Mrs. McClain, I’d rather not beat around the bush. Is Lance…?”

“Adopted?” Aleja finished. Lance flinched at the word. “Yes, he is.” No, Lance didn’t want to hear this. Please, no. “I was returning home from the U.S. by ship when I discovered a stowaway. He wasn’t human, but he was desperately trying to soothe a baby boy with silver hair and blue markings, just like yours,” she paused to glance at Allura. “They were being pursued by military forces, so I let them hide in my quarters. The soldiers were searching the cabins though, and the alien knew that we would be discovered soon…”

“What happened then?” Allura asked, leaning forward.

Aleja frowned but continued, “He told me the infant’s name. And then, he left. He drew the soldiers away. I don’t know what happened after that, but I can only guess. There were so many gunshots, but all I could think about was the little boy who I had to protect, who I already loved so, so much. That was Allains, my Lance.”

Lance stood, sniffing slightly. “I-I have to go,” he said abruptly. He couldn’t look at his mother. He hobbled out to the porch, tears in his eyes as he faced the setting sun. It was then that he ditched the crutches and started running, the first time on his prosthetic leg. He didn’t stop until he tripped and collapsed at the edge of the water, digging his hands into the sand as water washed over them.

Something had snapped inside of Lance. He screamed his lungs out until he couldn’t scream any longer, and then he found it in him to scream some more. Eventually, his voice faded to a ragged whisper, “Who am I?”

Lance didn’t know how long he knelt there in the surf, listening to the tides, but when a warm hand, Allura’s, pulled him away, he didn’t protest.

(True Self Revealed)

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“Uh, Lance, maybe this isn’t the best time, but you might want to… look in a mirror,” Shiro suggested. Lance shot him a tired look, but he stepped into the bathroom anyway. They were still at his house, though it had grown dark.

“What the quiznak?!” Lance shouted. His hair had turned a silvery white, just like Allura’s, and blue v-shaped marks had appeared beneath his eyes. Even his ears had elongated into sharp points, no longer round like they’d been when Allura had first insulted them. In short, Lance didn’t recognize the teenager who looked back at him in the mirror.

(Concept of Altean Lance with Prosthetic, prosthetic slightly based on @prince.lance.au from Instagram's Altean Prince Lance, specifically his boots)

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“I wish you didn’t have to go, honey…” Aleja whispered to Lance, hugging him tightly to her. “…but I understand. You were always meant for greater things.” Lance pulled back, out of his mother’s grasp. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

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They’d returned to the castle some time later, and the Blue Paladin had retreated to the training deck. He needed more practice walking and moving with his prosthetic leg, and he’d discovered that it had an ability similar to Shiro’s arm in that Lance could channel his energy into it and use it as a close-range weapon. He told himself that this was just part of the new Lance, something to get used to.

. Besides, Lance hadn’t felt like sticking around to see anyone else from his family. It wasn’t that he hated them or anything. He wasn’t even angry. He just couldn’t bear to see everyone. Rather, he didn’t want them to see him like this.

“Lance, I know you may not want to talk… but I wanted to say… I’m honored that you are my brother,” Allura voiced aloud. “I just hope that I’m not a disappointment in comparison to your human family. You and your siblings looked so happy in all of your photos.”

Allura turned to leave, but she stopped as Lance replied, “It’s not like that, Allura. I just—I just need time. I need to process all of this.” He gave her a weak smile.

“I understand. Oh, I almost forgot. I brought some of Father’s old clothes down to your room. You don’t have to wear them, of course. I just thought…” Allura trailed off, blushing with embarrassment.

“I’ll take a look when I finish up in here.”

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To be honest, Lance was thankful for the clothes. He didn’t feel right wearing all of his Earth clothes anymore. He pulled on a pair of skin tight black pants and tank top, then layered a set of light, breathable white and blue armor on top. A pair of tall boots was next.

Lance stared down at the swatch of blue fabric, the final part of the ensemble. He knew now (courtesy of Coran) that his baby blanket had been Alfor’s cape. It was made of a highly durable Altean material that kept it from fraying or wearing thin. No wonder it had never fallen apart over the years. Lance fastened it around his neck and to the armor, a cape to complete the look. Lance didn’t look like himself, but that was the idea. If everyone wanted him to be a prince, he could at least do them a favor and play that role until he figured out who he really was.

(Prince Lance Outfit, credit to @prince.lance.au on Instagram/@jasuemfan on Tumblr)

(Side Note: The Son of Honerva Lance doesn’t wear the circlet or earring)

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All eyes were on Lance when he joined the others on the bridge. He understood. Coran was the first to say anything, “Oh my, Lance, you look just like him, like King Alfor—when he was young, I mean.”

“Truly, a spitting image,” Allura commented.

Hunk looked at Allura, then at Lance. “You two really _are_ siblings,” he added.

Lance nodded, calm. “Yep. So, what’s our next mission? I’m ready and raring to go,” he responded. He didn’t know what the future held, but for now, things didn’t seem quite so bad.

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Of course, Keith had to ruin it. He yanked Lance aside at the first opportunity. He questioned the Blue Paladin, “What is this, Lance? Why are you acting like this? Dressing like that? It’s not you. You don’t have to do this for Allura and Coran, you know. They aren’t expecting you to stop being yourself. None of us are.” Keith crossed his arms, looking away a moment before returning his gaze to Lance.

Lance couldn’t meet Keith’s eyes. He stammered out a lie, replying indignantly, “What do you care, mullet? Maybe I just wanted a change of pace.” He pushed past him, stopping any further argument from the Red Paladin.

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“Well, while Coran is picking up his lenses… I’ll treat Allura to something sparkly,” Lance offered, putting an arm around his sister. He was technically her big brother, even if he was actually younger than her. It was a little confusing, but he felt like, as the first born sibling, he owed her for all the lost birthdays he and Allura would have had if they’d grown up together.

Coran’s response was instantaneous, however, “This isn’t shopping! You’re not wandering around saying, ‘Ooh, what a lovely pink hat! This is so becoming.’” The advisor acted it out, and Lance could barely keep in a laugh. “No! I can’t allow you or Allura to get anywhere near those filthy, lowballing Unilu hoodlums,” Coran insisted.

“But I’d love something sparkly!” Allura replied, almost sparkling herself.

“Look, you’re the only one who can operate the castle. You need to be resting, after all you’ve been through,” Coran explained, tone a bit more reasonable. “And Lance, Haggar has already shown a dangerous interest in you. An opportunistic Unilu would gladly share your location for a bit of favor with the Galra.” Lance couldn’t argue with that. Coran knew more about these swap moons than he did, after all. Still…

The others dispersed after that, heading for the pod bay and Shiro to his Lion. Then, it was just Allura and Lance. The princess sighed, disappointed, and wondered, “So what am I supposed to do now, sit around and worry all day?”

“Well, we _could_ sneak out to that swap moon and get you something sparkly after all,” Lance offered once more, a bit mischievous.

Allura blinked, “But Coran said…”

Lance shook his head. “We won’t go for long, and we’ll disguise ourselves. We’ll be back long before anyone even notices we left.” Allura tried to hide a grin, and Lance knew he’d won.

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The siblings furtively strode through the front doors, faces hidden by hoods. It turned out they had little to fear. After ten thousand years, the swap moon had become a space mall.

“I think we can ditch the disguises, Allura,” Lance commented, pulling down his hood.

“It seems so,” Allura replied. She pulled her own down as well. “This is much nicer than I was expecting.”

Lance held out his arm to her like an escort, smiling. “So, where to first? It’s your pick.”

“Well, how about that shop over there?”

The two headed off, unaware of the Galra mall cop watching them from a set of computer screens. Varkon was on the case, “More space pirates?! Those disguises won’t work…”

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

How did this happen? They were stuck in space mall jail. They’d just been browsing a jewelry shop when a potbellied mall cop had handcuffed them and dragged them to a cell for no good reason. Quiznak-ing great.

“Hey! We have rights! Let us out of here!” Lance shouted, yanking on the bars.

Allura was sitting on the floor, back against the wall. She replied quietly, “It’s no use, Lance.”

Lance let go of the bars and joined her. “I’m sorry, this is my fault. I just thought you deserved to have a bit of fun for once.”

“No, it’s not that. This has been lovely, I promise. It’s just… Father used to do silly things like this all the time to cheer me up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was a bit late. I'll be honest, no excuses, I went to SDCC and was just having too much of a blast to post. Also, the two digital art pieces took a fair bit of time to make, as I'm not very experienced with Photoshop. I hope you liked those :D. I like to have a physical image to look at when writing descriptions, and the sunset scene just felt really powerful in my head.  
> Next chapter should be out around the 20th of August, so keep an eye out for it.
> 
> Kkoko88


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Allura make a valiant escape from space mall jail, and the Voltron team's adventures continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I've been gone. Classes started in August, and I'm just having a great time. I'm currently working on a short script involving the Grim Reaper as he falls in love for one class, and for another class, I'm adapting The Demon King, by Cinda Williams Chima, into a pilot script for TV. At any rate, I'll update this when I can, but it's not my priority at the moment :).

“Come on, it’ll be just like in the movies,” Lance insisted, a wide grin plastered on his face.

“The… movies?” came Allura’s response.

Lance chuckled. Of course, Allura wouldn’t know what a movie was. “Never mind. The point is… I’m sure this’ll work.” Allura gave him a skeptical look, but she rose to her feet anyway. Lance knelt, intertwining his fingers into a cup shape. Then, he looked from Allura to their target, a vent just out of reach.

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“Okay, time’s up,” Varkon grumbled, lurching into the cell block. He was clearly displeased, though the worst was still to come. “Unfortunately, mall policy states that I can’t incarcerate anyone longer than two vargas… That shouldn’t apply to filthy pirates like you, but I have no choice.” He strutted back and forth throughout the speech. “You’re free to g—” he broke off as he finally looked into the cell.

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

Far away in the vent system, Lance and Allura heard the unmistakable scream of anguish. “I think that’s our cue to get out of here,” Lance commented.

Allura giggled and nodded. “That it is.”

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Keith was half Galra. Everything was clear to the Blue Paladin now. Keith had been acting oddly lately, not to mention how he’d acted when Lance first learned of his own ancestry. And so, Lance had determined to treat his teammate the same as always, like nothing had changed. Allura, on the other hand, wasn’t handling it well, to say the least. She held quite the grudge toward the Galra after all that had happened, and Lance couldn’t quite blame her.

Lance found Keith on the training deck. The Red Paladin recklessly threw himself at the gladiator time and time again. Finally, it was too much to watch, and Lance called out, “End training sequence!”

“Leave me alone, Lance,” Keith insisted, breathing hard.

“I can’t do that.”

Keith lowered his bayard, letting its form shift back to normal. “You’re angry that I didn’t tell you.”

“No. I just came to repeat something you once told me. This doesn’t change anything. You’re still the same person you’ve always been, Keith. It might take some time, but Allura and the others will see that. After all, we’re a team.”

Surprise replaced Keith’s defensive expression, though he quickly hid it with a pout, looking away. Lance grinned. His words had hit home, but not just for Keith, he realized.

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

Their recent missions had gone well. They’d broken Slav out of Beta Traz, they’d destroyed the robeast on the Balmera, and now, they were finally ready to go after Zarkon. Lance had even started wearing some of his Earth clothes again, usually paired or mixed with his Altean clothes. He’d taken a liking to his Altean vest paired with his jacket and jeans from Earth, along with Alfor’s cape.

After his talk with Keith, he felt more confident being both himself and Allura’s brother. He couldn’t just say one thing and not follow his own advice, after all. However, a twinge of fear had settled in Lance’s gut. It was all going too well, and he had a bad feeling something was going to happen, though he didn’t know what.

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

Lance instantly recognized the surge of purple magic as it slammed into Voltron. It yanked and ripped at his energy, drawing it away, but worse, in that moment, there was a connection. In an instant, not just his energy, but his entire being was snapped out of his body.

Suddenly, he was seeing through someone else’s eyes, a clouded yellow perspective. A pair of purple hands were extended before him. He heard a woman moan and scream, “It’s pure… quintessence!”

Then, the spell ended, and Lance found himself floating, like a ghost, in front of Haggar. She collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. She sighed, then turned her gaze up, like she could see the Blue Paladin. “Allains… I was… right then. You do have Honerva’s abilities. No matter… I will make them mine.” She reached out to Lance. He recoiled, but her hand simply passed right through him, clutching at thin air.

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

Lance had been right. Everything had gone terribly wrong. First, he’d had that weird mind meld with Haggar, and now, Shiro was missing too. They couldn’t form Voltron. In the wake of it all, Lance hadn’t told anyone else about his experience. He didn’t think this… connection he had with Haggar was important right now. They needed to find Shiro.

“Lance, are you listening?” Coran asked. Admittedly, Lance hadn’t been. “It’s important for you to be able to speak alongside Allura in this meeting and any others moving forward.”

“I know, I know. We have to present a unified front, the Altean prince and princess, yadda yadda yadda,” Lance replied, rubbing some dirt off his shoulder. He was back in his Altean finery. “I just don’t know how helpful I’ll be… At least with Voltron, I know what I’m doing. Even with your lessons, I don’t know half as much as Allura…”

Coran exhaled, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder and gently turning him until they were face to face. “We can’t always put the fate of the universe in the hands of a giant weapon. At least, that’s what your father believed. I know you can do this, Lance. You’re far smarter than you think.”

Lance had a feeling Coran had rehearsed the speech ahead of time. Maybe he’d even said the same thing to Allura. “Thanks, Coran. Now, let’s go knock their socks off.” Coran blinked, confused. “It’s an Earth expression,” Lance clarified.

—————————————————Line Break—————————————————

Allura and Lance sat at one head of the dining room table, Kolivan at the other. Coran and the other Paladins took up the length of one side of the table, facing a row of diplomats from the Voltron Alliance. Allura began the meeting, “It is our honor to have you all here together.”

This was Lance’s cue. “Everyone has taken great strides in order to make this day possible. We welcome you all and thank you for your contributions,” he added onto Allura’s greeting. He thought it came out pretty well, but he was still nervous he’d screw something up.

The Puigan diplomat, one of the newest members of the Alliance, spoke up excitedly, “I had the biggest bunker back on Puig, but it wasn’t nearly this nice.” He was from the planet Lance, Hunk, and the Blades had saved earlier today.

“Well, I spent the last decade sleeping in a spiny thistle thicket,” another diplomat commented. “You look wonderful though, Princess. I’m glad I put on my best tarp.” Allura smiled at that.

The Puigan looked at Lance and remarked, “I was unaware that Altea had a prince prior to the war. Our records date back quite far, and there’s only mention of Princess Allura.” A round of agreement rose up from the other representatives.

Lance wasn’t sure what to say, but Allura spoke on his behalf, “It’s rather complicated, but Allains was… hidden with the Blue Lion on Earth for his own safety.” They’d decided that it was best to use Lance’s Altean name during official meetings like this. It was another effort to present Lance and Allura as a solid unit, brother and sister against the empire.

The siblings were saved from more questions by Hunk’s timely appearance. He had hors d’oeuvres for everyone attending the meeting. In Lance’s eyes, the Yellow Paladin was a godsend. “Welcome, everyone. Welcome. I’ve prepared a few Earth canapes for our distinguished guests to enjoy while we talk galactic diplomacy,” Hunk said, and the aliens leaned in to ogle the food, distracted from the previous topic.

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The meeting had gone better than expected, at least until Keith blew up about Voltron. Lance understood where the Red Paladin was coming from, but they needed to be able to form Voltron again. “Hey man, we all miss Shiro. I remember what an honor it was to meet him for the first time,” Lance comforted. “And then he helped me through a really tough time after I… after I lost my leg. He understood what I was going through…”

Pidge was next, “I grew up with my dad and Matt telling me stories about him. He was a legend at our house.”

Now, Hunk, “The guy taught me everything I know about being a pilot. Which isn’t much, but that’s more on me.”

It was back to Lance. He looked at Keith. “You’re not the only one hurting, man. We’re all right there with you, but you know that he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on.”

Allura moved forward to join the Paladins. She added, “Keith, I know exactly how you feel, but our mission is bigger than any one individual, even those who are completely irreplaceable.”

“I know you’re right,” Keith answered. “It’s time to figure out how to reform Voltron.”

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Why wasn’t Blue letting Lance in? It was like she’d slammed a mental wall of ice between them. He tried to chip at it, but it was no use. He tapped a foot. “Come on, old Blue. It’s me, Lancey Lance. Open up,” he implored. They needed to get out there and join the others. “Okay, enough goofing around. I mean it. We gotta get out there and help the others.” He sent a sharp mental ice pick into the wall, and he was knocked back by an invisible force.

Lance dropped to his knees. “Oh, come on! Why are you being mad at me?” He groaned as a wave of sadness crashed over him, the first response he’d gotten from Blue. “Wait, why are you sad?” He crawled back to the particle barrier. “I’m sorry for wanting to fly the Black Lion. It was just a phase…” Blue wasn’t answering again. “Hey, Blue, you know what? I gotta say, that’s a great color on you. Oh! Are you from outer space? Because your body is out of this world.”

Nothing. He was just getting a strange sense of melancholy from Blue.

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“Maybe it’s roaring for you,” Lance wondered, but he knew it wasn’t true. The Red Lion had already rejected Allura.

Allura shook her head. “I would love nothing more than for that to be true, but I know the Red Lion is not meant for me. It is choosing you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Our father built Voltron, but he knew Zarkon was a better leader in battle, so he became Voltron’s right hand. Lance, when you accepted Keith as the new leader of Voltron, it proved that you value a strong team over your own need for glory,” Allura paused to rest her hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Just like Father. He would be proud that you’re following in his footsteps.”

“I won’t let him down then.”

“Go.” Lance sprinted off, though he took one last look at Blue as he left her behind. He was the Blue Paladin no longer. He was the Red Paladin now.

Then, Allura was alone with the Blue Lion. She started to walk away, when she heard the sound of the particle barrier dropping. She stopped and faced the Lion. A growl reverberated through her mind as Blue’s eyes lit up. Lance wasn’t the only one following in their father’s footsteps today.

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Lance didn’t remember the last time he’d had a good night’s sleep. Ever since the day they’d lost Shiro, it was like Haggar had invaded his dreams. She was always there, reaching out to take something within Lance. Other times, she sealed him into a long white druid mask, and he found himself forced to attack his teammates with druid lightning.

He’d wake up drenched in sweat, his hair stuck to his face, struggling to breathe. Today was no different. He didn’t know how to tell any of the others. Instead, he did his best to ignore it and focus on what was actually important. He told himself that his nightmares were just that, nightmares.

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Some doboshes later, Lance joined the others on the command deck. Allura and Coran were staring wide-eyed at something on the monitors. “What’s going on?” Keith asked.

Even Pidge was confused. “Yeah, these have never gone off before,” she agreed.

“Allura, what is it?” Lance joined in.

Hunk pointed out, “Looks like you guys just saw a ghost.”

Coran didn’t stop looking at the symbols on screen, but he answered, “That’s just the thing. It’s an old Altean distress code, one used by King Alfor’s ship.”

“Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?” Allura wondered.

Keith just had to stomp on Allura and Coran’s hope. “Wait. What if someone’s cloning the signal to try and lure us in?” he asked.

“The signal is from an Altean ship, and we’re going to find it,” the princess insisted. Allura fired up the teludav and brought the castle through a wormhole to the coordinates. When they came through, there was a giant rift of some kind, a ship at the center. “That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle, one of my father’s deep space vessels.”

Coran was already looking through the castle’s files. “According to the ship’s identification code, it’s Commodore Trayling’s ship, but I don’t see any records of its destination or mission.”

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The Shiro look-a-like was surprising enough, but the Alteans were something else entirely, with their white and gold sentries (which looked like repainted Galra sentries, Lance thought with a shiver). “Put down your weapons!” The lead Altean commanded. She had magenta colored hair with mint green markings.

Allura gasped, “Alteans!”

“It can’t be,” the other Altean replied, taken aback. She dropped to one knee, bowing her head. “Empress! And the High Priest!” The sentries and a bespectacled Altean followed suit and knelt before Allura and Lance.

Hunk leaned over. “Uh… I’m confused. What is going on?” he asked.

The magenta haired Altean ignored him. “Are you… Empress Allura?”

“I am _Princess_ Allura. Please, stand,” she replied.

The Altean stood and looked to Lance, “And High Priest Allains?”

Lance blinked. “Eh, just… Allains, or Lance. Lance is good too,” he answered.

“I am Commander Hira, Empress. How can you be here?” Hira asked, introducing herself. “You put down the Galra uprising and established the Altean Empire ten thousand years ago.”

This was a lot to process. Keith answered this one, “Where we’re from, all the Alteans were wiped out by Zarkon when he destroyed your planet.”

Hira and the other Altean looked shocked. “Where did you come from?” the other asked. There was a pregnant pause. Lance didn’t think it was a good idea to tell them the truth. Unbeknownst to the Paladins, Hira pressed a communication button on her armor, which started blinking.

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“This is our Altea. Come with me. Allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved,” Hira offered. Lance could see the desire in Allura’s eyes. She wasn’t really listening to what Hira was saying.

Maybe there was something Lance could do. He backed away from the projection of Altea. “You know what? I gotta take a whiz, so uh… I’ll be back in a bit,” he stammered. To Keith, he whispered, “Will you keep an eye on Allura? I’ve got a bad feeling.” Keith nodded subtly. That was all Lance needed, and he backtracked out of the room.

“Oh, Lord Allains, my sentries will accompany you. We don’t want any harm to befall you,” Hira’s voice called out. Suddenly, four sentries surrounded Lance. Uh oh.

“T-thank you, General,” Lance replied, though inwardly, he was not pleased. His hand rested at his waist, ready to summon his bayard. Once they were out of earshot, Lance launched into action. He managed to destroy two of them before a third knocked his bayard away, but Lance wasn’t defenseless. He powered up his leg and swung it through the midsection of the sentry, slicing it clean in half. Only the fourth remained.

Somewhere, someone started clapping. Lance slid forward and snatched up his bayard, breathing hard but ready to fight. However, his jaw slackened when he saw who approached. Just like Sven, the boy casually advancing was a look-alike, Lance’s look-alike, to be specific. The only difference was what each boy wore. Lance was in his Paladin armor, but the other Lance (or was it Allains, since he was also Altean?) wore robes reminiscent of Haggar’s, just in white and blue.

The fourth sentry, in Lance’s distraction, crashed into him, pinning him to the ground. “A little birdy told me you were here,” Allains spoke in an accent, just like Allura and the other Alteans. He lifted his sleeve to show a blinking display on his wrist. “You’re not too shabby, I’ll give you that. I should have expected it though, considering you’re me.” Allains slid a finger under Lance’s chin, forcing his head upward. “But you’re woefully untrained in the subtle arts of alchemy and quintessence.”

“If it means I’d turn out like you, then I’ll pass,” Lance retorted, glaring up into a face that mirrored his own.

“A pity. I thought we might work together, bring peace and prosperity to both of our realities. Well, we can still do that when you’re a non-cog. This won’t be painful, I promise.” Allains brought his free hand down to Lance’s face, bluish energy crackling around his palm.

Lance threw his head back and into the sentry, freeing his hands and grabbing Allains’ wrist. He could feel energy coursing into him like a rushing faucet. Lance was practically overflowing with power. He couldn’t see it, but his eyes glowed a solid glacier blue, just like Haggar’s yellow. “I don’t know what Kool-Aid you’ve been drinking, but this isn’t peace and prosperity,” he replied.

Allains snatched his hand back, disappearing and reappearing about twenty feet away. He seemed drained, staggering slightly. “No! How did you do that? You have no training! You shouldn’t have been able to—!” Allains cried out in disbelief.

“I shouldn’t have been able to what? Defeat you? Because I’m pretty sure I just did,” Lance shouted. His heart was racing in his ears, but he felt good, great, in fact. He let the stored energy out in a giant sphere of energy, sending it into Allains like a bowling ball. The corridor lit up like a Christmas tree. Lance heard a scream of pain, but when the light dimmed, there was no sign of Allains.

Lance quickly dispatched the last sentry and booked it back to the bridge, eyes determined and back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thank you all so much for the support on this story! The last time I checked, there were almost 200 kudos! Plus many bookmarks and subscriptions! As always, feel free to critique and let me know what you think.
> 
> One last note, if any of you are artists, I'll gladly feature fanart on my chapters (similar to my own art in Chapter 7 of Lance at sunset).

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> First things first, I'll be honest, I'm a Screenwriting major in college. My attention is first and foremost on that, so I can't update super often. I'm currently planning on posting at least once a month.  
> Anyway, over and out,  
> Kkoko88


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